When working on a project, a person will typically produce several documents and access one or more Web sites that relate to the project. For example, if the project involves planning a party, a person might create a guest list, prepare a menu or look up recipes for food and drink to be served, create a list of games to be played, and refer to a Web site that enables the person to print a map showing the location where the party will be held. Conventionally, a person might manually group the documents related to a project in a directory so that they are all readily accessible when the person wants to work on the project or make additions, deletions, and manage a “to do list” of actions or activities that must be done as part of the project. Since some of the to do activities, such as ordering a cake from a bakery, may have to be done by a certain date in advance of the party, the person will want to enter a reminder of the due date for the action in a scheduling program. Typically, the due date can only be scheduled from within a calendaring program, which involves yet another separate step. If a change is made in the date scheduled, the calendaring program must again be accessed.
Many computer users find it difficult to carry out tasks such as creating a directory, and storing or moving documents and Web links into a directory, either because they are neophytes or because they lack the time to be bothered with the details of such operations. Inexperienced users might well be intimidated by the prospect of managing a project on a computer and manually placing all of the documents and other files or links to Web sites related to a project within a directory for efficient reference when working on the project, while more experienced users simply may not have the time to do so. Accordingly, it is apparent that providing a program that integrates all related to do items, and all related tasks or templates, documents, and Web links within an integrally accessed user interface would greatly facilitate the creation and implementation of a project, particularly by those who are either not very knowledgeable about computers and software or are too busy. The integrated user environment should also enable a user to readily enter or change a due date by which a to do item in a project must be complete, without the need to manually access a calendaring or scheduling module. In addition, as items in the to do list are completed, the integral environment should provide an indication to the user of the completed status of each such item. But even more importantly, the integral environment for handling projects should enable a user to associate a task or template, a document, or a Web link with a to do item in a project, so that the entity associated with the to do item is also readily accessible from within the integral environment of the project. In this way, a to do item listed as “create map showing location of party” in the example noted above, might readily be associated with a Web site that enables a user to enter a street address and display and print a map showing the location of the address. Similarly, a to do item for “create invitations” might be associated with a document or template selected for facilitating creating an invitation.
Any task or template, document, or Web link should be accessible from within the integral project environment, and should open another software program as appropriate to enable a person to view, modify, or carry out other pertinent functions. The prior art has not provided such flexibility and simplicity for handling to do items and associated tasks, templates, or Web links.